The Ten Roses of I Love You
by soprano-squad
Summary: Marius gets creative in trying to tell Cosette he loves her. Modern AU where it's their first wedding anniversary. Written in honor of their 182nd wedding anniversary (February 16th, 1833.)


"Are you sure this is going to work, Courfeyrac?" Marius asked nervously as he set down the bouquet to straighten his tie.

"What do you mean _'are you sure this is going to work_'? It's pure genius!" Marius' friend said enthusiastically.

"I guess I'm just a little nervous because I've tried to do romantic gestures for Cosette before but they've never really worked that well…"

"Well this one is Courfeyrac approved! I even told Jehan about it and he thought it was super romantic."

"Well no offense to Jehan but he isn't exactly the toughest judge when it comes to romance. He'll eat anything up," Marius said as he wiped his sweaty palms on the front of his pants.

There was a sound of a car door slamming. Both men froze and then ran to the window to see Cosette walking from her car up the walk way to the front door of her and Marius' house.

"Oh no…" Marius breathed.

Courfeyrac patted him on the back. "Don't worry bro, you've got this. And remember the notecards- they will be your best friends!" He patted his pockets, "I think I left my keys in the living room when we were setting up- be right back," he said as he darted behind Marius down the hallway.

Marius took a deep breath, straightened his tux one last time, and opened the door to find Cosette reaching for the handle.

Marius smiled at her. "Hi honey."

Cosette lowered her hand, looked at the tux, and raised an eyebrow. "Hi… what's the occasion?"

"Um, today's our first wedding anniversary?" Marius said, unsure if she actually forgot. He knew she had to leave early for her nursing job at the hospital and so they hadn't had much time to talk this morning but surely she hadn't forgotten…

Cosette giggled. "I _know_ that, sweetie. I was just wondering why you were wearing that tux," she said, smoothing her hand over the shoulder.

Marius smiled, more confident. "Well I have a surprise for you… here let me take your purse," he said as he reached out to take Cosette's purse, then he turned and hung it on a hook as Cosette stepped in and closed the door behind her.

"Okay I'm going to cover your eyes now…" Marius said as stood behind her and reached around towards her eyes. Cosette grabbed his wrists and turned around.

"What? Why?"

"It's a surprise!"

Cosette chuckled and turned back around to let Marius cover her eyes with his hands. "Marius Pontmercy what has gotten into you…"

"Okay I'm going to lead you into the living room now…"

"I thought this was supposed to be a surprise."

"It is."

"Then why are you telling me where we're going?"

"It's what's in the living room that's the surprise not the actual living room."

Cosette laughed. "I know, I'm just teasing you."

"Oh," Marius blushed, glad Cosette couldn't see him.

When they arrived to the living room, Marius led Cosette over to a big armchair. "Okay you're sitting down now…" he said as he moved her around and helped her into the chair while still trying to cover her eyes. "Okay… open!"

Marius removed his hands and Cosette opened her eyes. She gasped when she saw what was around her. To her left there was a small table with a bottle of champagne, two glasses, and a vase with nothing but water in it. Marius was kneeling on the floor in front of her holding a bouquet of roses, each one a different color.

"Marius, I-"

He took both her hands in one of his

"Cosette, this past year has been filled with so many struggles and hardships. But, I wouldn't trade this year for anything because it was the first year I got to spend every day with the most wonderful woman in the world. The first year of waking up to see your beautiful smile every morning. The first year of going to bed every night with you by my side. I've had so many adventures and new experiences this year and I can't tell you how glad I am that you were there to share them with me.

"And to try to show my love for you, I got you these roses… and I'm just now realizing how cliché this is, oh god."

Cosette giggled. "No, it's not, Marius. It's super sweet."

Marius was so nervous he was beginning to sweat. _Calm down. She likes it so far. Keep going._

"Okay then… so there are ten roses here, and as I'm sure you've noticed each one is a different color. So I did some research and each color stands for a different feeling, and so yeah here I go…" Marius cleared his throat and pulled out the first rose. It was pink.

"Pink," Marius began, "is for sweetness. You are so sweet and kind to everyone you encounter, even on the bad days. I don't know how you do it all the time but you do." Marius put the rose into the vase on the table. The next rose he pulled out was orange.

"Orange is for enthusiasm. Cosette, you are just so enthusiastic about what you do. You are such a positive person and I'm so glad to have you in my life." Again, Marius put the rose into the vase and reached back into the bouquet for another. This time the rose was lavender.

"Okay, lavender is for…" Marius searched his brain to try to remember what lavender stood for. "Lavender is for… um… I think it's?- no…" Oh god he was making a complete fool of himself. Then he remembered the note cards. "Oh! Um, hold this please," he said as he handed the rose to Cosette as she giggled. He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a white notecard and quickly scanned it for what lavender roses stood for. "Aha! Lavender is charm!" Marius put the card down on the floor next to him as he was sure he would need it again. Taking Cosette's hands and the rose again, he continued.

"You are always witty, and playful, and delightful, and if that doesn't describe charm then I don't know what does." Marius put the rose in the vase, but instead of picking the next rose himself, he picked up the bouquet and offered it to Cosette. "Would you like to pick the next one, dear?"

"Of course," Cosette smiled as she scanned her eyes over her choices. "By the way you're doing an excellent job so far."

Marius blushed. "Thanks."

"Hmmm…" Cosette said as she finally picked up a rose and lay the bouquet in her lap. "I think I'll go classic and choose red."

Marius took her hand again. "Excellent choice, my dear. Red is for romance. There is no way I can describe how much I love you but you have filled my heart with more love than I ever thought was possible. Every day I'm overwhelmed with how much I would do for you solely out of love."

Cosette sniffled. "Aw, Marius, I'm gonna cry…"

Marius squeezed her hand and put the red rose in the vase with the others, then he quickly scanned the notecard to see what he should do next.

This time Marius pulled out two roses. Cream and peach.

"I'm going to do these two at the same time because they mean almost the same thing. Cream is for appreciation and peach is for gratitude. You do so much for me all the time and I am so grateful and thankful to have you in my life. I appreciate all that you do for me and everyone else." As Marius was putting the roses in the vase, he suddenly stopped. "Wait, is this peach or is this salmon? There's supposed to be a peach and a salmon but honestly I can't tell a difference."

Cosette chuckled. "I'm pretty sure that one is peach," she said, pointing to the one in his hand.

"Okay, good," Marius smiled. "Well I guess I might as well do salmon then," he said as he got the salmon rose out. "Let's see here…" he said as he scanned the notecard. "Oh…"

"What?" Cosette asked, concerned.

"Well, um," Marius said as he turned back to Cosette, "Salmon is for desire…"

Cosette raised her eyebrow. "Oh?"

Marius blushed and laughed. "I'm just going to go ahead and say this… Cosette, you are so hot. You're way out of my league and-" he looked down at the floor out of embarrassment. "Well to be honest I don't know how many times I've been turned on by you at inappropriate moments."

Marius, blushing furiously, looked back to see Cosette smiling with a very amused expression on her face. "So, yeah," he finished as he hastily put the rose in the vase and pulled out the next.

It was white. White meant innocence.

"Okay well this is not a good one to do after everything I just said but, uh, well white means innocence."

Marius awkwardly cleared his throat as Cosette was obviously trying to hide a fit of laughter.

"Well I feel like you are too good, too pure for this world. You're an angel directly from heaven and sometimes I wish you were in heaven still so you wouldn't have to endure any pain or suffering because it pains me to see you in pain." Marius sniffled. "Well looks like I'm the one about to cry now," he said, smiling, sincerely hoping he would be able to stay strong for Cosette. He continued, "But I know that if you were still in heaven, you wouldn't be here with me."

This time Cosette really was crying. She wiped a tear from her eye. "Marius this is so sweet, I don't know how much more I can take…"

Marius chuckled and he reached up to wipe another tear that was rolling down her cheek. "Don't worry there's only two more."

With that he reached down to pick up a green rose from the almost empty bouquet. "Green is for vitality. You are so vibrant and you just exude life and brightness in whatever you do which I love about you." He placed the rose in the vase and switched knees before he grabbed the next rose for it was beginning to grow sore.

The last rose was yellow. "Yellow is for friendship. Cosette, you are my best friend and I know it sounds cliché when people say they married their best friend but I really did. I am filled with so much love towards you and only you and I just-" Marius couldn't help it now. Tears were brimming on the lower lids of his eyes. He blinked and they all started to fall. "I'm sorry I get a little emotional sometimes… a lot."

Cosette had tears streaming down her face as well as she took the rose from Marius and put it in the vase. Next she grabbed Marius' arms and pulled him up towards her. "You are so amazing come cuddle with me."

Marius smiled and lowered himself into the chair next to Cosette as she flung her arms around him and buried her head in his chest.

"How did I get so lucky," she asked in a muffled voice.

"I ask myself that every day," Marius said in response.

They sat there like that for a while, just holding each other, when Marius saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He picked up his head to see what it was.

"…Courfeyrac?"

At this Cosette looked up to see what Marius was looking at. She was greeted by the sight of Courfeyrac standing in the middle of their living room.

"Uhh, hi guys," Courfeyrac said with a small smile and awkward wave.

"Why are you in our living room?" Marius asked.

"Well, I left my keys in here so I came back to get them and then I heard you and Cosette coming and I didn't want to bother you so I dove behind the couch and have been there ever since."

"What!? You've been here the whole time?" Marius asked, embarrassed and slightly angry.

"Yeah… but I thought neither of you would notice if I sneaked out because I didn't hear either of you talking for a while… but now that you know I'm here… happy anniversary!" With that Courfeyrac turned around and dashed out of the room, down the hallway, and out the front, slamming the door behind him.

Cosette laughed and turned back to Marius. "Happy anniversary indeed."


End file.
